Acquire Cultural Data.
The US Army’s expensive and dubiously-successful Human Terrain Program should be of interest to you as an internet user. I am still putting together the compelling argument to your “Why?” however, in the meantime, consider the Human Terrain Team Handbook (2008):
Human Terrain comprises the entire spectrum of society and culture. This should be the focus of the Human Terrain Analyst (HTA)’s interpretation. In non-kinetic roles, the population is the primary battlefield, and the HTA will have considerable knowledge of this aspect.
“The population is the battlefield…” I hear an echo of Edward Bernays’ “Propaganda” in that statement.
And, on that note, some interesting cultural data courtesy of Edward Bernays and big tobacco:
In 1927 an American journalist wrote “A change has come over our democracy. It is called ‘consumptionism’. The American citizen’s first importance to his country is no longer that of citizen, but that of consumer. (Time signature 10:03)
… perhaps the battle has moved on from the terrain which was conquered long ago.
